Reddit acquires popular iOS app Alien Blue
Despite its stunning popularity and influence across the internet, Reddit has lacked an official app for actually using the service on mobile devices. They have an AMA (ask me anything) app, but nothing for everyday use. This has left users to browse the site using third party apps or their mobile web browser. Rather than developing their own app to fill this gap, Reddit has simply purchased Alien Blue, the most popular iOS client for the site.
Alien Blue's lead developer Jase Morrissey has been hired by the company to continue working with the Reddit team on the app. Morrissey released the following statement regarding his new job.
G'day folks! I'm Jase, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining the very talented reddit crew. I'm the developer of Alien Blue and have been working closely with reddit for many years now. I'm an iOS developer by profession, but I adore building software on any device or machine that I can get my hands on. I'm almost always lurking on /r/PCGaming, /r/Games and of course,/r/AlienBlue. Now that I'm an official member of the team, I'm hoping to spend even more time doing what I love - building fun and powerful software for all of you.
The news comes alongside a complete relaunch of the app. To celebrate the relaunch Reddit is allowing everyone who downloads the Alien Blue app to upgrade to a Pro account for free for one week starting from October 15.
Here's a description of everything Alien Blue allows Reddit users to do.
• Browse all of reddit, including funny pictures, original stories, and news
• View images and video seamlessly with touch-to-preview
• Upvote the best content to help it rise to the top
• Subscribe and participate in subreddit communities centered around your interests
• Submit your own comments, links, and stories for others to view and discuss
• Upload images directly to Imgur when posting or commenting
• Use night mode for easy reading in the dark
• Be notified of new messages from your reddit inbox
• View websites using the integrated "Readability" reader from Arc90
Upgrade to Alien Blue PRO to unlock even more features:
• Switch between multiple reddit accounts easily
• Browse in Gallery mode (formerly Canvas)
• Discover subreddits by topic or interest
• Expand all images in the comments with one tap
• Quote comments in one tap
• Exclude posts based on keywords
• "Hide All / Hide Read" comments with one tap
If you're a current user you'll need to download the new app and transfer your settings before you delete the old one. Here's there walk through of the transfer process.
You can transfer many of your customized settings to the new version (including subreddit groups, filters, and Imgur uploads) if you:
Launch the older version of Alien Blue and tap "Settings" > "Advanced Settings" > "Privacy Settings" > "Export Settings to Clipboard"
In the new Alien Blue app, tap "Settings" > "Advanced Settings" > "Privacy Settings" > "Import Settings from Clipboard"
Current Pro users, please make sure to get the new Pro upgrade now (free for one week). Unfortunately, due to the limits of the app transfer system, we have no other way to verify, credit, or transfer your old Pro account.
You can download Alien Blue for free right here on the iTunes store.
